New Mexico Real Estate News

Nationally, the housing affordability index is at an all time high. The prices of homes in New Mexico have certainly become more attractive, the low interest rates are still phenomenal, and the cost of living make home ownership more affordable now than almost ever.

Thinking of buying your New Mexico dream home? Don’t miss out. Real estate is back in vogue.

Now that spring has sprung Santa Fe is seeing more visitors to the capital city. There’s so many great things to do in Santa Fe and the surrounding areas like Los Alamos, Pecos, Espanola, Abiqiui and points beyond. One of our favorite things to do is go to Tent Rocks for a hike. During the summer though, you’d need to go early in the morning as there’s not much shade.

Thinking of a second home or vacation home in Santa Fe? Check out our website. Thanks.

I’ve been asked to be the Real Estate expert for Sage Magazine which is a part of the Albuquerque Journal.  I will be blogging weekly on a variety of real estate topics related to New Mexico homes, land, and other real estate issues.

Open only two days a year, this Saturday is your chance to visit the Trinity Site in New Mexico.  Pack up the family and make a plan.  It’s worth seeing once for sure.  No, nothing monumental there, but history and you can ‘feel’ it…

There are a few ways to approach the site, from Socorro, Roswell, Alamogordo… and many great picnic sites along the way before getting on the missile range. Part of what makes this trip impactful is the drive, and recognizing how remote this location was at the time, and still is today.

If you’re going through San Antonio and need your green chile cheeseburger fix, be sure to plan time to stop at The Owl Cafe and Bar, or The Buckhorn Tavern.  Both well known and loved. There will be long lines at both places so put your name in and visit some of the roadside vendors while you wait.

If you know anything about New Mexico, you’ll know that we love our Chile.  Whether Green or Red, we all have our favorites.

Hatch, NM, a quaint farming village in the fertile Hatch Valley in south central New Mexico, celebrates the green chile harvest each Labor Day weekend with a 2 day festival known as… The Hatch Chile Festival.  Here is a LINK to the Hatch Chamber of Commerce website about the festival.

As the harvest season heats up, Labor Day weekend in the Village of Hatch is well known across New Mexico for the annual Hatch Chile Festival celebrating chile.  There’s a parade, food samples, a festival queen, and lots of booths with food, artisans, and even a carnival.
I remember my first visit to the Chile Festival.  It was in the early 1980′s and I was driving to Las Cruces, NMSU, to visit a college friend.  We met in Hatch as I was driving to Las Cruces.  It was lots of fun and we shared some awesome food before continuing the journey to Las Cruces. Hatch is located between Truth of Consequences and Las Cruces just off I-25.

Yes, there’s great fly fishing in New Mexico…. you just have to decide where to go.  In the northern New Mexico area, you can fly fish in many places… the San Juan River in and around Farmington is a popular place.  I know folks who learned to fly fish in the San Juan near Farmington.

There’s also places near Taos, Angel Fire, Red River, and Questa for great fishing.  Near Albuquerque, of course there’s the Jemez just 45 or so minutes away.  The Gila Wilderness near Silver City is also amazing.  I’ve never been camping in the Gila but hear the fishing and hunting is amazing.  How about near Ruidoso?  I bet there’s great places there as well.  Having golfed and hiked in the area, it sure seems like there’s plenty of fish to be found.

What are your favorite places to fish in New Mexico?  I’m sure there are many!

I heard today from someone stationed in Germany who is getting sent to Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis.  It seems like in doing a home search that there were some nice homes on the market to choose from.  I know that housing in the Clovis and CAFB area is tight so I’m hopeful that finding a great home is in the works.

While new homes can be perfect for many home buyers, older homes often allow for charm, warmth, and can come with window coverings, yards, workshops, and storage buildings.  When buying a new home, be sure to factor in the costs of these extra items.

It seems like I’m starting to see new construction starting up again in various areas.  New home construction. With land prices extremely improved over a few years ago, perhaps it’s starting to make sense to buy land and build.  For the past few years home prices and inventory have been so good it has made sense to buy existing homes.

We’re even starting to see signs of investors back in the market buying land before the market for it gets stronger.

Do you own land in Rio Rancho, New Mexico?  So do about 50,000 other folks…

The Sandoval County Assessors Office is in the process of mailing out the notice of values to owners and I would highly suggest you look them over to determine if your property value is fairly accurate or in need of an appeal.

If you need to appeal your value, you only have a short window of time to do so. Follow the directions on the notice of value and if you need someone to handle this for you, I would suggest

http://nmpropertytax.com/ and they can also be reached at 505-265-7555.

As a realtor, we can give you a rough idea of the current value of your Rio Rancho land.

It’s that time of year when the counties mail out your Notice of Values showing what they are valuing your property at.  It’s a good idea to open that mail right away and check it.  The only time all year they allow you to protest the value they place on your home or property is NOW.

If you need help protesting the assessed value, there are companies that will protest it for you (call or email me for more info).  Also, if you intend to file a protest, you will want to send in data to support the protest.  We can give you the information on comparable sold properties which you will need.

For Bernalillo County the web site is www.bernco.gov and for Sandoval County their web site is www.sandovalcounty.com